Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis press conference after Learjet crashes in Palm Beach County

[0:00] Okay, so we are here on site. [0:04] Obviously this was a cataclysmic plane crash. [0:07] It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the [0:11] road. I want to commend the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department as well [0:16] as the fire rescue. They were here immediately. There was a lot of debris [0:21] that was spewn as a result of this crash. As of now, we don't have any [0:27] reports of anyone who was on the ground apart from the people in the [0:30] plane who were killed or injured as a result of debris, but the debris was [0:34] significant and it went over a pretty pretty significant distance. I've [0:39] received a briefing from the county officials. We've also been in contact [0:44] with the FAA. There will be some folks here. Obviously they do an [0:48] investigation in situations like these. As you see here, military trail, there's [0:54] road closures and those would likely be something that are going to continue [0:59] for the foreseeable future. There's going to be more information that will [1:03] come out. They're still doing different things. Obviously when the FAA people get [1:07] here, they're going to be able to get a lot more. But there was a very quick [1:11] response on this and I know that people that have needed to be assisted. Maybe [1:17] there's a lack of service and water things because it did damage things down. I [1:22] know the folks on the local level have been doing that very, very well. So I [1:25] just want to thank him. I know we have some of our commissioners here. I know [1:28] we have the administrator, so I'll let them say a few things if they want. So [1:31] Sarah, do you want to start? Yes, Mayor Baxter. I just want to say thank you [1:34] governor for being here and being so responsive. And thank you to staff. Thank [1:38] you to Administrator Bruzo and to PBS. So thank you to Fire Rescue. It is [1:42] definitely a group and team effort to get everything to come together. The school [1:47] board as well is going to be notifying some people of some changes. I don't want to [1:50] beat them to that. I just want to say thank you and please ask everyone to pray for [1:55] the families of the loved ones of this crash. So thank you, everyone. [2:00] Commissioner Flores, I'm Commissioner three, which is where the incident [2:08] occurred. I think right now our priority is evacuating the adjacent community [2:13] right behind. So we're about we have about 600 people that we have to make sure [2:18] that they have a shelter tonight food. We got the Red Cross and stand by make sure [2:22] that we provide this initial services for them. So I think that's our worry right [2:27] now, making sure that those those folks have somewhere to go to stay safe with [2:31] the night. Thank you. [2:32] I stay representative Deborah Tendridge. This is my district here in Green Acres. I [2:39] just want to say that showing up to this terrible incident. I want to say that this [2:45] is one of those moments where you can really see how everyone comes together to [2:49] make sure that everyone has the best interest and we come together to really [2:52] do what we can to make sure that we handle this as quickly as possible. A fire rescue [2:57] came responded immediately on scene. They did an incredible job on being Chief [3:02] Hirsch for responding in and all the other fire rescue came here. Palm Beach [3:05] Sheriff's Office. Governor County has done an amazing job to make sure that we [3:10] have shelters, that we have enough everything in place to make sure that [3:14] our community is taken care of. And while we can't give too much information [3:17] because we're still under investigation and looking through everything, my office is [3:21] here to help anyone in this community that might need any resources and I can [3:25] help navigate them. What does this mean for the businesses? We're going to go. We got [3:29] one more than County Administrator Joseph Abruz. I want to thank the [3:32] leadership of the Board of County Commissioners. I know Commissioner Flores, I [3:36] believe, is the first government official on site in his district, followed by [3:40] Mayor Baxter and of course the leadership of Governor DeSantis. From a [3:44] County perspective, I want to let the residents know we are currently working on [3:48] an alternate traffic route that will be released likely some point tomorrow. This [3:53] area from common sense purposes. No one will be able to come through. We do not [3:58] know how long the federal government will have to run their own investigation [4:01] on the plane crash. Once we get all that information in place, we will release [4:05] it to the public. We just issued a statement from the county. Please look at [4:09] our county websites for that. Without further ado, I will just say again, I would [4:14] like to reiterate, we will have an alternate traffic pattern coming to you [4:18] shortly. And again, Commissioners, Governor, Representative, thank you for your [4:21] leadership. Sure. Questions? We'll have a question for Commissioner Flores. Do you [4:26] want to step up here? Yeah. So you said that 600, about 600 people were affected by [4:30] this. Can you just elaborate a little bit more on that? Sure. So the site of the [4:35] impact is right on military, which is the entrance to a mobile trail park that we [4:40] have right behind. Unfortunately, that's a crime scene. They're [4:43] investigating that. So the people can't stay there. We are relocating them to [4:47] two shelters in the county. They're in standby. We have Palm Tran ready to [4:51] transport them. But until PBSO does not allow them to evacuate, we will not be [4:56] making that move. But they should be in the shelter by the end of night. You were [5:00] the first one on scene. So what was your reaction when you first got on scene? So I [5:05] first county official, I think our first responders were the first one on scene. I [5:08] think they did a great job making sure that they clear the area. They make sure that [5:13] there was nobody else that was hurt in the nearby. But my initial impact, it was, it's [5:19] a massive crater on military that it's going to take some time to fix. So any [5:23] southbound trips on military are probably not going to be that that side of the [5:28] road. I don't see it open in the next 30 days. So we're, I think the county is [5:32] going to look at alternative routes. But I'm concerned about that community right [5:36] behind you, that their main entrance, their only entrance, it's right on the side of [5:40] the road. That's something else that we're concerned right now because a lot of [5:49] these are going to be shut down for the near future until they finish their [5:53] investigation. And at that point in time, they'll release it to go back into [5:57] operations. But there is a crate in the middle of the road. So the near next, the [6:02] business is right next to it. Probably not going to be able to get transit into [6:06] those commercial spaces where you were here at the area just at the time. I mean, [6:10] nine people were enrolled that are now deceased. Anything you might want to add in, if [6:14] there's going to be any state level resources for these people. Well, the state level [6:19] resource terms of FDOT, they're here, they're on scene. So they'll be working with the [6:23] county at traffic solutions and also repair of roads 100%. Look, when you see that video, [6:31] you know, it's a jarring thing. It was like, it was like a missile coming down and a massive [6:37] explosion, debris going everywhere. And to have those people on board is really a tragic [6:45] way to see people pass away. So we should offer our thoughts and prayers with their family. [6:54] I don't know if any of them were Floridians. There'll obviously be more information on this [6:58] as the hours and days go. But it was a big time tragedy that happened. I'm thankful for the very [7:05] quick response here to stabilize things. We don't know. There could have been more people in harm's [7:10] way had they not stabilized the way they did. I mean, there was fire, there was all kinds of debris. [7:15] So they did a very good job responding here for the fire and the sheriff's department. So just on [7:20] behalf of Florida, I say thank you. Do you know how many people lost their lives? I'll let I do, but I don't [7:28] know that that's something that I should be announcing. So we'll let the FAA do that. But it was, I think [7:34] people will recognize this as a major tragedy. What about the type of plane? I know you said it looked [7:39] like, kind of like a missile. So what kind of, you know, it was, it was a typical, um, like Learjet [7:45] private private plane. I know there was a charter. They, I think it was probably a charter plane. Um, [7:51] and uh, yeah, I mean, it was, um, obviously there's going to be an investigation, but to see the way it [7:56] descended, I think you can, you can make the inference that that something happened in the air. That was, [8:02] that was a big problem. I did. You asked about the state being involved. I'm about to head to our [8:08] Emergency Operations Center on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners to sign an emergency [8:12] declaration to the governor. Uh, we also have to commend our law enforcement PBSO, but we also [8:17] have our Florida Attorney General here making sure that from a law enforcement safety standpoint that [8:22] everybody is safe and they've done a tremendous job as well. Okay, so that you will, uh, the feds [8:30] will be on site within within the next couple hours, most likely certain by certainly by the end of [8:35] tonight and they do their thing. Uh, some of the stuff with the traffic. I know the, um, the county [8:41] will be working with residents to give them information. Uh, just sometimes they're at the [8:45] mercy of of what the feds are doing to investigate. Um, and there may be continued closures in ways [8:51] that that may be frustrating, but it's not the folks here who want that to happen. It's just, [8:55] they're going to do an investigation. They kind of have their thing that they do, [8:58] and I think we'll all just work to support that. Thank you. Thank you.